A HIGH performance car which crashed killing the driver and a passenger was being hunted by police following a house burglary.

The driver, believed to be from Clayton-le-Moors, and a rear seat passenger thought to be from Preston, died when the four-by-four Sierra smashed into a bus carrying passengers in Rishton.

Police, paramedics and a passing doctor fought for 30 minutes to revive the two men at the scene.

Two other passengers from the car were taken to hospital. One, who suffered serious injuries, is under a police guard.

The other is being held in police custody and will be questioned by Preston police.

The accident happened at about 12.30pm in Lee Lane, near the junction with Wilpshire Road.

The Sierra was crushed along the driver's side and the front of the Hyndburn Transport bus was also badly damaged. The seriously injured man, who was travelling in the rear of the car, is believed to be from Ribbleton and the front seat passenger is thought to be from Accrington. Police were refusing to name the men, who are all thought to be in their 20s, until their identities had been confirmed.

None of the bus passengers or the driver was injured.

Paramedic Eamonn Higgins was one of the first emergency workers at the scene.

He said: "When we arrived the police were trying to revive the two men.

"We gave them various drugs and administered electric shocks but it was futile really. This was a particularly horrific smash and it was a miracle that nobody else was killed.

"The high performance car was travelling at very high speeds and if it had hit a smaller vehicle I am sure there would have been more fatalities."

Police say the car had been seen in suspicious circumstances near a large detached house in Longridge at about noon.

It drove away at a fast speed and failed to stop for a marked police car.

After a short pursuit officers lost sight of the car and it was last seen near Knowsley Road, Wilpshire.

Patrols across the Lancashire area were alerted to be on the lookout for the suspect car.

At about 12.25pm an Accrington police patrol was travelling along Wilpshire Road towards Ribchester when the suspect car drove towards them going in the opposite direction at a fast speed.

The police car stopped, did a three-point turn and tried to relocate the car which was by then completely out of sight. A short time later they approached the road junction of Lee Lane in Rishton and found that the suspect car had collided with a single decker bus.

The officers gave emergency first aid to the injured and called for the assistance of other emergency services.

The police helicopter was on its way to the scene and waited in a nearby field on standby in case casualties needed to be airlifted to hospital.

Passengers on the bus were shaken and treated for shock.

Police inquiries are continuing into a house burglary in Longridge where a large amount of property was stolen.

Andrew Gill, managing director of Hyndburn Transport, spoke to the bus driver before he was taken to hospital to be treated for whiplash.

He said: "Obviously he was very upset. I think all the people involved in this horrific accident must be feeling traumatised."

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